Feeding Blooming Phalaenopsis: How Much and How Often?

Fertilizing a Phalaenopsis in Bloom

Your Phalaenopsis has 8 flowers per spike and you're wondering if and how to fertilize it while blooming.

Simple Feeding Rule

• Use a balanced orchid fertilizer (e.g., 20-20-20 or similar).
• Apply at half the label rate.
• Frequency: every other week (twice a month).

Why So Little?

Phalaenopsis are light feeders. Excess fertilizer builds salts that burn roots, especially in the low-leaching environment of a pot. During bloom, the plant is using stored energy, not actively growing new tissue, so its nutrient demand is low.

Additional Tips

• Water with plain water between fertilizer applications to flush salts.
• Always water/fertilize in the morning.
• Stop fertilizing after blooms fade until new root/leaf growth starts.
• Resume weak weekly feeding during active growth.

Your plant will bloom beautifully without heavy feeding—less is more with orchids.